I was smashing some gills today on the hi vis foam beetle with legs from big y! i had 3 of um chasing it at a time! i would get a bite when it landed and also after i would slowly pull it through the water with lil jerks! it was the 1st time i caught something on top! I caught around 8 in 2 hours and should of had way more! i missed some. also my cousin caught em on a grasshopper with rubber legs. it was funner than nymph fishing they were jumping out of the water sometimes! awesome!!!!!!!

ya u r right, i caught way more on my beetle than they did on the hopper. seemed the hopper was a bigger hook and they missed more. i am about to order some more in size 12 and 14. couple times they exploded out of the deep like a missile and some times they would just swim up to it and get right underneath it then follow it and sip at it. but if it was still they swam away. seemd the twitch is what made um hit it.

They are tons of fun up top. I always get a kick out of how agressive panfish are. I'll be fishing for bass with a size 1 deer hair popper, giant feather tail, big 'ol rubber legs and eyes the size of a bluegill's mouth and they'll murder it. Sometimes you'll even hook them and they've got this fly sticking out of their mouth that they could never swallow in a million years. You just have to love a fish like that.

those foam gurlgers are deadly for gills and really easy to tie. It's good practice for hook setting finicky trout too.

ya i hear ya! i also hear anything with rubber legs is great for gills. these weren't huge gills either at all . i actually had some small ones with the beetle bigger than there mouth rubber legs hanging out and all just like u said lol. first time i actually seen um killing top water bugs i actually watched ants and beetles fall into the river when the wind blew and they were goners!!! my cousin had the idea to try top water because a fish hit his indicator as soon as he tossed out a nymph. i tried a royal wulff with no luck but my cousin got a hard bite on it. then i threw on the beetle and all hell broke loose lol. i am still pumped about it! I can't wait to try it out again. I like how u make the fly move and get a response! u can actually see um come up and follow it around or just come at 100 mph and kill it!!! the real way of fly fishing. very exciting even tho they were prolly under a half pound . lol . its way better than using a worm and bobber! plus i have never lost a fish yet.

ya u r right, i caught way more on my beetle than they did on the hopper. seemed the hopper was a bigger hook and they missed more. i am about to order some more in size 12 and 14. couple times they exploded out of the deep like a missile and some times they would just swim up to it and get right underneath it then follow it and sip at it. but if it was still they swam away. seemd the twitch is what made um hit it.

Interesting topic concerning what action prompts the strike. When bass and panfishing, I see the presentation and decision in three phases. In some cases you are going to get the strike seemingly as the fly is hitting the water. It's amazing how fast they can react.

if they don't take at phase one, phase two is the pregnant pause extended long enough where the fish just gets sick of looking at it and wants it out of it's neighborhood. I think a very subtle twitch shortly after hitting the water is key to suggest something alive. Then I'll let it sit until I'm uncomfortable waiting, then I wait some more. I've been suprised on many ocassions how many takes occur after letting the popper sit for 30-45 seconds.

After that, phase three is a twitch retrieve with increasing frequency mimicking a recovering bug or animal. If they're chasing food, then this is the phase for them.

I like how u make the fly move and get a response! u can actually see um come up and follow it around or just come at 100 mph and kill it!!! the real way of fly fishing. very exciting even tho they were prolly under a half pound . lol . its way better than using a worm and bobber! plus i have never lost a fish yet.

Yeah, you can really appreciate how some become dry fly purists. It is a lot of fun.

i was all amped up to go fishing tommorow and go figure!!! a down pour!! hope it doesn't muddy the river up to bad!!! just great! wanted to try the top water action again.

I envy you if you have bass and panfish accessible in river systems. They are much stronger fighters growing up in the current. Hope you find some action after the storm. They can hunker down for a day or two sometimes.